Success Continues for the Science and Technology Policy Internship Program

Aug. 28, 2007 -- The 2007 cohort of Science and Technology Policy interns was formally inducted into the Policy Internship Program Alumni Network on Aug. 2 in a celebration that included mentors, donors and interns from previous years.

The Science and Technology Policy Internship Program began in 2000 under the leadership of Richard Miksad, then dean of the U.Va. School of Engineering and Applied Science. From its early beginnings with just one intern who was placed in the office of Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., the program has grown steadily over the years. To date, more than 70 undergraduates have served as policy interns through the innovative program. This year, 11 students experienced high-level placements in policy-making offices, shared housing with MIT students and enjoyed an outstanding speaker series that included national policy-makers.

The 2007 policy interns served in several agencies in Washington, D.C.; the National Science Foundation Europe Office in Paris; and in the office of the Virginia Secretary of Technology in Richmond, Va. In the D.C. area, they served in the White House Office of Science and Technology, the National Institutes of Health, the Amazon Conservation Team, the Federation of American Scientists, the Embassy of France and the office of Senator Hillary Clinton.

Science and Technology Policy interns have the opportunity to work on substantive projects that go far beyond what one would ordinarily expect of a summer internship placement. Intern projects this summer, for example, included the development of a model of network organizations responsible for D.C. water management, the crafting of a case study on French educational reform, the evaluation of the effectiveness of education programs designed to broaden participation in engineering education and the development of strategies to improve technological cooperation among government agencies.

Christine Devlin, a rising fourth-year student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, spent her nine weeks as an intern in Paris at the National Science Foundation Europe Office — she was the first intern ever, from anywhere, to intern in the NSF’s Europe Office. “I had the best internship in the world,” she says. “I was exposed first hand to international science policy through a job that was constantly challenging and exciting.”

Closer to home, Kimberly Naden, a rising third-year student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, investigated educational testing for the Federation of American Scientists. Working with President Henry Kelly and Information Technologies Manager Michelle Roper, Naden conducted an evaluation of effective strategies to test learning in educational video games. Using the FAS video game Immune Attack as a test sample, Naden’s research concluded that evaluation of learning in educational video games is best achieved with post-game survey assessment and in-game data collection that tracks the user’s actions.

The 10-week summer internship program seeks to educate the next generation of leaders by combining academic opportunities with hands-on policy experience. In the semester before their internships begin, students in the program enroll in a preparatory course taught by Policy Internship Program Director Edmund Russell, associate professor of science, technology and society as well as history. Over the course of that semester, students gain an understanding of public policy and presentation skills. James Turner, chief counsel for the House Science Committee and member of the SEAS Trustees, helped secure placements for all of the D.C. internships.

“This internship program is a transformational experience for each student,” says Russell. “They begin the preparatory class with enthusiasm, curiosity and a great deal of potential. By the time they give their final presentations in the Science Committee Hearing Room in the House of Representatives Rayburn Building, they have become mature, capable professionals with extraordinary presentation skills and a clear understanding of the nature of technology and policy.”

Emily Morgan Rush, who worked on a traditional nutrition case for the Amazon Conservation Team, agrees. “We would recommend the program to anyone, and we would recommend it for reasons we didn’t fully understand before we began. It opened our eyes to whole new worlds in ways that surprised us. We all feel changed for the better because of this experience.”

The Science and Technology Policy Internship Program is supported by contributions from SEAS alumni and friends. Additional information on the program is available at www.sts.virginia.edu/pip/.